A dozen singers will perform a piece by Arvo Pärt. They are distributed around the room, on the walls from floor to ceiling there are colored strips by Gerhard Richter that are reminiscent of colorful carpets to be knocked out. There is also a cryptic film by Richter and Corinna Belz, and a composition by Steve Reich can be heard during breaks. In the middle of it all, the audience walks around. “Reich Richter Pärt”, the title of this multimedia performance, is just one of the works from the extensive opening program of New York’s new cultural center on the banks of the Hudson River. The Shed, in English «The Shed» is of course the exact opposite of a modest hut. It is a $ 475 million building designed by the star architects and equipped with all the technical and technological refinements Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the Rockwell Group. Everything about this shimmering palace can be moved, including the roof, which turns parts of the interior into an open-air arena.
Place for a wide variety of disciplines
Well, New York is not lacking in imposing architecture or, with 1200 cultural institutions, in musical attractions. Yes, says the artistic advisor to the Shed, Hans Ulrich Obrist: “What is missing, and that is missing not only here, but in most cities, is an institution where the most diverse disciplines can meet and where dialogues and collaborations in this sense can arise, projects can also arise that would otherwise not take place. “
With Shed director Alex Poots, Obrist wants to bring together the visual and performing arts, avant-garde and pop, celebrities and unknowns, philosophy and street dance. Fifty projects for fifty million dollars are planned for the first year, all world premieres. Because the directors of the Shed intend to only show commissioned works. As far as the long-term financing of this festival strategy is concerned, Hans Ulrich Obrist says: “Of course there is a lot of fundraising here, but at the same time there are also a lot of co-productions. It is important that many of the projects that are created here are cooperation with other institutions. I think it is very important in the 21st century that we create new alliances. ”
The wealthy and the poor
The Shed is advertised not only as a place for all arts, but also as a place for all social classes. “I think it is very important to us that it is a place where everyone is welcome, and it is this place in New York where that became possible,” says Obrist. In harmony, the well-heeled and the less well-off should enjoy a dramatic implementation of Verdi’s Requiem and watch interactive documentaries about gentrification. Tickets to some events are available for as little as $ 10. The question is who will find the way to this temple of inclusion. The Shed is part of the Hudson Yards, the $ 25 billion most expensive real estate project in the history of the United States. This biotope of luxury residences, high-tech offices, restaurants and shops was inaugurated a few weeks ago. The Shed is literally at the feet of potential and already won sponsors. It is quite possible that the trusting coexistence of capital, consumption and culture will prove fruitful. But you can’t get rid of the suspicion that this ambitious company is a lot more exclusive than it actually is.
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